Abaia and the Claw

Jeffrey Lefstin · 20 Apr 2005, 17:43 · from 2005-April.txt.gz

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From: jeff.lefstin at stanfordalumni.org (Jeffrey Lefstin)
Date: Wed Apr 20 17:43:28 2005
Subject: (urth) Re: Abaia and the Claw
In-Reply-To: <20050420190855.B291B84D22 at che.dreamhost.com>
References: <20050420190855.B291B84D22 at che.dreamhost.com>
Message-ID: <233b2555c8a17f1eff9fcede1dbeaaad at stanfordalumni.org>


> On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 20:22:41 -0700 Jeffrey Lefstin
> <jeff.lefstin at stanfordalumni.org> wrote:
>> The recent discussion of what role Abaia plays in the new Urth
>> prompts
>> me to note the interest Abaia seems to show in the Claw.
>> ...In UotNS, the power of the Claw is shown to come from Sev
> himself.
>> But
>> Abaia's interest in the Claw remains.  Idas, Abaia's minion,
>> ransacks
>> Severian's cabin looking for "something so small it might have
>> been
>> concealed in the collar of a shirt."  While Severian is ready to
>> torture Idas in order to get Idas to tell him what it was, I think
>
>
>> it's
>> a no-brainer for us that Idas was trying to find the thorn that
>> will
>> become the Claw - what else is there?
>> Maybe then Idas is trying to prevent the Claw from coming into
>> existence;  though the thorn got a drop of Severian's blood when
>> he
>> first found it, I read Apheta's explanation ("It was saturated
>> with
>> your blood") to mean that the thorn did not become the Claw until
>> Severian jammed it good into his finger.
>> That takes place, of course, when Severian tries to use it to
>> revive
>> the steward.  Whom Idas has killed trying to find the thorn.  So
>> Idas,
>> in trying to prevent the Claw from coming into existence, is
>> actually
>> the reason it comes to be....
>
> That's interesting, but didn't Idas say she was actually searching
> for Inire's letter endorsing Sev as Autarch to the Hierogrammates?
> I don't recall the exact details. Somehow I got the impression that
>
> the plan might have been to substitute somebody else for Sev at the
>
> trial - which is kind of what happened in the end.
>
>
>
Something else as well, at least according to Severian:

Sev: "What were you looking for?"
Idas: "Your letter, the one that the aquastors of Urth gave you for the 
Hierogrammate.  I found it and burned it there in your own stateroom."  
Her voice held a note of triumph now.
Sev: "You would have found that easily enough.  You were looking for 
something else too, something you expected to be hidden.  In a moment 
or two I'm going to hurt you very badly unless you tell me what that 
was."

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